Just One Mistake
by breatheactsing123
Summary: A one-shot, based loosely upon the Pasek and Paul song "Somewhere Along The Way."


Quiet nights were rare in the Bartlett administration. They were less rare in the Santos Administration, which was not to say that they were common. They were still rare enough to be seen as precious. So on one of these precious, rare, quiet nights, Josh and Donna had snuck home around 6:30 with chinese takeout and a DVD rental and a pile of blankets and their bed. When the movie's credits had begun to roll, the couple was cozy, although not at all tired, their internal clocks still used to the nights that ended closer to the beginning of the next day.

"A whole movie, Donnatella. We just made it through an entire movie without either one of our cell phones or pagers going off."

"Well, it is a Sunday." Donna points out.

"Still, when did that ever happen when Bartlett was the president?"

"When did we ever climb into bed and watch a movie when Bartlett was president?" Donna counters, smirking at him. "President Santos is spending father's day with his kids. I think it's nice."

"It is nice. For him and for us." Josh agrees.

"Josh, I have something for you in the closet. It's in a little bag."

"Is it lacy?" Josh asks with a leer, and Donna throws her head back with a little laugh.

"No, it isn't. Why don't you go grab it?"

He kissed Donna briefly before rolling out of the bed, a bit reluctantly. He trudged into their walk-in closet and turned on the light, looking around for whatever bag Donna could be talking about, then spotting a little gift bag near a pair of his shoes.

"Is it green?" Josh calls back out into the bedroom.

"Yeah," Donna calls back. "Come back in here to open it."

He walked back into the bedroom, feeling more than a bit ridiculous. He pulled the yellow tissue paper out of the bag and sees a baseball cap inside. Weird, Josh thought, as he knew that Donna knew he didn't typically wear hats. Maybe it was a Mets cap? Maybe it was autographed? He pulled it out and turned it over, reading the embroidery. "Number 1 Dad," was etched into the hat in blue fabric.

"Donna," Josh said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Josh, look at me," She whispers back, and his eyes dart up at her, her face so purely ecstatic and joyful and she's so clearly already somebody's _mom,_ that he can't help but smile back.

"You're-" He starts, but Donna cuts him off.

"We're having a baby, Josh."

In an instant, he's back on the bed, on top of her, kissing her with what he's sure is a somewhat sexist surge of pride. His wife was pregnant with his baby. Who could resist pride in that? He's kissing her and she's laughing as he moves down her neck and suddenly a hand skims over her stomach and he realizes there's someone in there. Holy shit. He rolled off of her, sitting upright on the bed.

"How long have you known?"

"I started having suspicions a month ago."

"A month?" Josh asks, incredulous. "Gosh, Donna. I could have hurt you!"

Donna, despite knowing it will bruise her husband's ego, laughs at him a little. "How? You don't exactly make a habit of pushing me down the stairs."

"I poured you a glass of wine an hour ago!" Josh exclaims.

"And I didn't drink it, Josh. Besides, I've only known officially for two weeks. I went to the doctor and had blood work done. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew how close we were to the holiday and thought it would be a nice surprise. Happy first father's day, Josh." She says, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

And then it hits him. Josh Lyman is going to be a father.

When Donna woke up the next morning, she was alone. With a start, she flicked on the television, checking the news to make sure Josh hadn't been pulled into some sort of national crisis. Of course he hadn't, Donna breathed a sigh of relief as the news presented its normal weather programming. Unless it was classified, of course. Pushing the thought out of her mind, she rolled over in her bed, attempting to fight a bout of nausea with a package of saltines she had stored in her nightstand. When she felt confident enough to do so, she got out of bed and got dressed for the day. Josh's secret service detail was gone, and it was a warm morning, so she decided to walk to work, imagining herself pushing a stroller the whole way. When she got to work, she went straight to Josh's office, knocking on the door briefly before entering.

"Donna, you're here!" Josh said, looking frazzled and surprised to see her.

"Last time I checked, I still work here." She joked, shutting the door behind her.

"Did you take a cab in? I was going to send a car for you, you don't normally get in this early." He said.

"Yeah, well, I was lonely," She said with a playful pout. "And I walked. It's gorgeous out."

"You walked?!" Josh asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I've been doing it pretty well for about 35 years now."

"Is that even safe? To be on your feet like that?"

"Josh, I'm not an invalid, and you're certainly not going to treat me like one for the next 7 months. I'm fine, the baby is fine-"

"Yeah, Donna, I'm sorry, I've got to go." Josh said hurriedly, and before Donna could even respond, he was gone.

Josh wasn't a particularly religious man, but he knew it had to be an act of God that gave him a quiet hour later that afternoon. He pulled his blackberry out of its holster on his hip and dialed a familiar number. The phone only rang twice before the line clicked.

"Joshua!" The familiar voice bellowed, and Josh couldn't help but smile.

"Good afternoon, Mr. President."

"What in the hell do I have to do to get you kids to call me Jed?"

"Just give me a couple more decades to get used to the idea of it, Sir." Josh joked.

"Now, forgive me for to having to ask, but it's the middle of the day and I'm getting a call from the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States of America, who I know from firsthand knowledge is a pretty busy man. Is everything alright?"

"No," Josh says before he can help it, and then kicks himself. "Well, yes, nationally, everything's fine. Everything's fine everywhere, but, ah,"

"Spit it out, son."

"Donna's pregnant." Josh blurts.

"Donnatella? Our Donnatella?"

"Well, I have to object to the sharing, but-"

"Oh, Joshua. Congratulations! Mazel Tov."

"Thank you," Josh said dazedly.

"You're about to pull your own hair out, aren't you?"

"Well," Josh starts, but the president cuts him off.

"It's normal, Josh. You're allowed to be scared. This is a big one."

"It's just that… Donna's already a mom. She's glowing. She knows what to eat and what not to eat and to keep ginger ale and crackers around and to take vitamins and she knows how to change a diaper and how to swaddle and she knows how to take care of someone. God, she took care of me for eight years. Donna's all set. I don't know how to be a dad. I haven't had a dad in-"

"None of that matters, Josh. Yes, Donna has had an eight-year primer in how to take care of someone helpless." Josh couldn't help but chuckle at the jab. "You love Donna?"

"Of course, sir."

"You still gonna love her when her ankles are the size of footballs and her stomach is the size of a beachball?"

"Undoubtedly," Josh answered without question.

"You love the baby?"

"Yeah, I do." Josh says, just realizing for the first time that he does.

"You still gonna love the baby when she comes home with a tattoo?"

"Oh, god."

"What?"

"It could be a _girl,"_ Josh moans in horror, thinking of the boyfriends and the crying and all of the other eventualities.

"Josh, not to startle you, but it could be three girls."

"Well, you seem to have done okay."

"I did pretty good." Jed agrees. "Everything else will come in time. Right now, you love your wife and you love your child and you'll learn how to love them both better as time goes on. When did you find out?"

"Last night. Donna, uh… She got me this "Number one dad" hat for father's day."

"I'd like to see that hat sometime soon."

"Absolutely, sir."

"Now, Josh, if I know anything about you, you might have spooked Donna last night or this morning with your nerves."

"You're probably right, sir," Josh said, thinking of his actions this morning.

"Well, you're not slick, son. And you definitely can't sneak anything past Donna. Make sure she knows how much you love her and the baby."

"Yes sir."

"Now, I'll let Donnatella tell Abby and the girls, but don't make me hold onto the secret too long, okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Now, you go run the country. I'll talk to you soon."

"Talk to you soon, sir."

Later that night, when Josh returned home, Donna was in the kitchen, chopping up vegetables and tossing them into the slow cooker.

"I suck," he announced as he burst into the kitchen.

"Josh?" Donna asked, mentally cataloging his meetings from that day and wondering which went wrong.

"I'm sorry Donna. I suck. I'm just so scared, you know? What if I drop her? Or forget to feed her? What if I leave her at a Girl Scouts meeting? What if I spend all my time working for the party and she resents me for it and registers Republican? Just one mistake, Donna—"

"Josh!" She nearly yells, crossing the room to put her arms around him. "You're going to make mistakes. I'm going to make them too. It's going to be okay. Do you believe that?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

"Yeah, I think I do." Josh says as he looks back at her, tilting his head down to kiss her.

"Would it be okay if I called Stanley Keyworth and made an appointment?"

"I don't need it," he tells her, and she raises an eyebrow at him.

"Josh, this is big. I understand if you're—"

"I don't need it, Donna. I talked to President Bartlet today, I've got you—"

"You told President Bartlet?"

"Yeah, so you should probably call Abbey and the girls. You know how he is with a secret."

"You can give the man an entire country's worth of classified information, but give him one personal tidbit and he turns into a child."

"I know something you don't know," Josh teases, tickling Donna's sides.

"Is it the sex of our baby? Because you seem pretty set on a girl."

"President Bartlett's fault."

"Oh, sure," she teased.

"You know how happy I am, Donna. I want a healthy baby and wife. Go call Abbey, she's probably waiting by the phone. I'll finish up here." He says, dropping a kiss to her temple as he moved towards the cutting board.

"I just love you, Josh Lyman."

"I love you too, Donnatella Moss."


End file.
